The Lighthouse
by Chrysexanthe
Summary: A bit of fluff. Gordon's first encounter with the ocean.


Author's note: I finally finished a story! A great big thank you to quiller for her patience with me and being willing to beta my stories in between her many adventures.

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the recognizable Thunderbirds characters. Rosemary O'Sullivan, used by permission, belongs to Samantha Winchester (thank you Sam!) All others belong to me.

By Chrysexanthe

Rosemary O'Sullivan looked up from her desk at Tracy Corp's New York offices to see her boss standing in the doorway looking a bit annoyed.

"What's wrong, Jeff?"

"I was just speaking with Richard Compton. He's been unavoidably delayed, and won't be able to meet with me until tomorrow morning."

Knowing how important this contract was, Rosemary thought quickly and said,

"OK, here is what we do. You go to the airport to pick up your mother and the boys. I'll make the necessary changes to your schedule here so you can spend the rest of the afternoon with them. Tomorrow morning, I will take them to the lighthouse while you meet with Mr. Compton and get that contract sewn up. Then you meet us at the planetarium afterwards."

"Thanks, Rosie. I don't know what I would do without you!"

"Well, let's not even think about that," she replied with a smile while checking the time. "Get going, their flight is due to arrive in about an hour and a half."

The next morning, Rosemary was quite amused listening to the boys' banter as she drove along the parkway. They were understandably disappointed that their father wasn't joining them this morning, but they seemed to be taking it all in stride.

"Where exactly are we going, Rosemary?" Jeff's mother asked her.

"Fire Island Light House. We'll drive to Robert Moses State Park, park the van and walk along the nature trail to the lighthouse and museum."

"Why do we have to go see a stupid lighthouse?" Alan grumbled from his car seat.

"Dad has a lot of different trips planned for us this week, Allie. Don't forget, we are going to the zoo tomorrow," Scott soothed.

"You may even see some wildlife as we walk along the nature trail," Rosemary added.

Alan settled down, hugging his bear and soon drifted off to sleep. Scott and Virgil returned to their game while Gordon peppered John with questions as he perused his new book about the ocean. John, though happy to assist his younger brother, was anxious to spend more time reading his own new book. After a short while, he gave up trying, ruffled Gordon's hair and assisted him in reading his book.

"What do you think is will be like, Johnny?"

"What will what be like Gords?"

"The OCEAN, Johnny! What do you think it will be like?"

"Wet," John deadpanned. Gordon stared at him for a minute and then burst out laughing.

"Of course it's gonna be wet, Johnny," Gordon gasped, still laughing. "What do you think it'll feel like? Will the air be different? What will it smell like? Sound like? Will I feel different when I'm there?"

Seeing that his brother was in earnest, John thought for a moment before he answered him. "It has been a long time since I was at the shore, kiddo. I was really young, and don't really remember very much. You are going to be able to get your answers soon enough. Besides, since everyone is different, you may feel different than, say, I would, or even Scott. None of you feel the same way as I do about the stars, right?"

Gordon nodded, adding "and none of you are a fish like me!"

"True enough," John replied laughing, ruffling Gordon's hair again as they got back to the book.

After driving south for a short time, a large expanse of water with a bridge soon came into view. Virgil was excited to see the feat of engineering, while Gordon was thrilled to see so much water.

"Is this the ocean?" Alan asked.

"No Allie, the ocean is much bigger," Gordon responded before Rosemary got a chance.

"That's right Gordon. This is called the Great South Bay. We will get to see the ocean when we reach Fire Island." Rosemary informed them.

A short while after they reached land, the van slowed down, causing the boys to look up and ask, "Are we there yet?"

Laughing, Rosemary replied, "Not quite yet, boys."

Up ahead, there was a red light and they could see that the road went up into the air at an impossible angle.

"How are we supposed to go up that?" Alan asked.

"We don't, Allie, it's a drawbridge." Scott told him. "Just like the one in your Thomas set, but for boats, not trains."

"My Thomas set," muttered Virgil to himself. Scott looked at him, one eyebrow raised.

"What?" Virgil asked looking at Scott. "It's mine. I'm just letting them play with it."

"Choo Choo Boy," Scott teased. Virgil swatted at him with his ball cap.

"Settle down, boys!" Grandma admonished. Scott smirked, and Virgil glared at him.

"Oh, look there's the boat!" Gordon exclaimed. "What kind of boat is it?"

"A party boat." Rosemary responded.

"A what?" several of the boys asked at the same time.

"A party boat. They take large groups of people out to go fishing. This one is probably heading out from Captree – you will see the signs for it when we cross the drawbridge," Rosemary informed them as they watched the boat pass by.

Once the boat had passed, the bridge lowered into place and they were able continue on their way. They then crossed another bridge, not quite as long as the first. Gordon was glued to the window again, staring out at the water.

As soon as they had crossed the bridge, Rosemary said that they were now on Fire Island.

"I can't see the ocean," Gordon complained.

"Don't worry, honey, you will see it soon enough," Rosemary assured him.

They arrived at the parking field, got out of the van and headed to the start of the boardwalk.

"Look! There's the lighthouse!" Alan cried.

"It looks rather far away," Grandma said, frowning.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Tracy; it isn't as really that far. I really think the boys will enjoy the walk through the nature area."

The boys started walking along the boardwalk, Alan scampering ahead looking for animals, with Scott trotting along after him. Gordon stopped, hearing a sound that he had never heard before.

"What is that sound?" He asked

"That is the sound of the waves breaking along the shore," Rosemary told him.

"So the ocean is that way?" he asked, pointing south.

"Yes, just on the other side of the dunes."

After a short walk along the boardwalk, there was a break in the dunes and they were able to see the waves crashing along the beach.

Gordon was mesmerized as he looked at the ocean for the first time. John gently steered him along in order to keep up with the group.

They followed the boardwalk for a bit, Gordon still looking south trying to catch any glimpse he could of the ocean beyond the sand dunes.

"Look! Deer!" Alan yelled running towards them, only to be caught by Scott just before he barreled right off the boardwalk.

"Easy, Sprout," he admonished as he held him. "You almost ended up in a patch of poison ivy."

"They're gone," Alan mourned as he stared over his brother's shoulder to where the deer had been.

"Next time, don't yell. That scares them."

"How did you know that was poison ivy, Scott?"

"We had to learn how to identify it in scouts."

"So, the boardwalk is to keep people from getting poison ivy?" Alan asked in wonder.

"No," John responded. "The ecosystem here is very fragile. The boardwalk is to protect the area from people."

"And to keep people out of the poison ivy," Virgil said quietly to Alan and Scott with a grin.

They continued along the boardwalk until they arrived at the steps to the lighthouse museum.

"Wow, it's huge!" Alan and Gordon exclaimed in unison.

"Well, if it wasn't very tall, the ships out at sea wouldn't be able to see the light, now would they?" Rosemary asked them.

"Guess not," Gordon replied. Alan was just kept staring up at it, watching the light.

"Come on guys, let's go in," called Scott as he headed up the steps to the door.

Once inside, they were met by two older gentlemen wearing blue golf shirts with a lighthouse logo on them.

"Ms O'Sullivan?" queried one of them.

"Yes, that's me," Rosemary acknowledged.

"We have a full tour set up for your group. If you would please follow us into the room on the right." The man gestured to the door.

"My name is Craig, my associate is Jimmy. We will be happy to answer any questions you have, so please feel free to ask at any time."

The group followed the two men into a room that had paintings, diagrams and models all around. Gordon hung back and asked his grandmother

"Why are they so old?"

"Gordon! That is not a very nice question to ask!"

"That is perfectly alright Ma'am. We get that question from school groups all the time," Craig said with a chuckle. He then explained to the boys that all the people working at the lighthouse were volunteers, and since it was a work day, only retired volunteers were available today.

Gordon looked up at him and asked, "Are you mad at me?"

"Nope, not at all. Are you OK with an old guy showing you around the lighthouse?"

"Sure."

"Friends?" Craig asked Gordon, putting out his hand.

"Friends," Gordon said as he solemnly shook the proffered hand, breaking into a broad grin when Craig winked at him.

Craig and Jimmy showed them around the museum, explaining various things about the lighthouse as well as the fact that the rooms used for the museum actually used to be the lighthouse keeper's residence. They went upstairs to what had been the bedroom part of the house, which now was a part of the museum dedicated to maritime rescue operations.

Jimmy showed them pictures and some of the gear that the early rescuers in the United States Life-Saving Service used to rescue unfortunate sailors whose ships had run aground on the sand bars off shore.

Virgil was fascinated by the various pieces of apparatus and asked a lot of questions until Craig asked them, "How would you boys like to do your own rescue?" The boys agreed to it enthusiastically.

"Just let me get our resident sailor, or" spying the teddy bear clutched in Alan's arms, "would you like to rescue your friend?" he asked.

"What will you do to him?" Alan asked nervously.

"Not me, you boys." Craig said. "Your friend will get to have quite a fun ride."

"Really?"

"Yup. Now then, I will need one of you to command the rescue operation." Scott's hand went up immediately.

"Great," he said, giving Scott the commander's jacket and horn. "Here is the scenario gentlemen: a ship has run aground on one of the sandbars off shore. The captain has signaled that his ship is in distress, but the weather is bad and the sea is too rough to launch the rescue boat. Your commander, Scott, has decided that it would be safest to conduct the rescue from shore."

"Now I need someone to be the captain of the ship that's run aground." John raised his hand and was given the captain's hat and a sailor's hat for the bear. "Take your crewman over to the 'ship' there in the corner, John."

"Malcolm." Alan said giving the bear to John.

"Sorry, Alan – John, please take Malcolm over to the ship. I need one volunteer to operate this cannon-like gizmo that shoots the line to the ship." Gordon jumped up and down begging for the opportunity. Jimmy handed him a hat. "That leaves the two most important jobs," Craig informed Virgil and Alan. "You two get to do the actual rescue," he said handing them heavy foul weather jackets similar to the ones the actual rescuers used to wear.

"Here we go now. Scott, inform the captain to watch for the line, then tell Gordon to aim and shoot the line to the ship." Scott complied, Gordon 'shot' the line, which Jimmy carried over to John on the 'ship'. Following directions from Scott, John secured the line to the 'ship'. Then using the pulley system, Virgil, Alan and John pulled the rescue device over to the 'ship'. Malcolm was placed in what Grandma said "looked like a life ring with short pants attached inside it." The bear was brought safely to shore, and Craig told them to send the ring back so they could rescue the captain.

"Isn't the captain supposed to go down with the ship?" Alan asked, which earned him a glare from John.

"Not if the rescue crew can help it he doesn't," Craig replied. "These guys wouldn't give up until they had rescued everyone they could." So the boys then rescued John, who couldn't go in the ring as it was designed for a small bear, but he walked back to 'shore' where his brothers were while holding on to the ring.

"Great job boys!" Jimmy said.

"Can we do it again?" Alan asked.

"Don't see why not," said Craig. "Why don't you boys switch jobs for this round." The boys happily complied.

Rosemary and Mrs. Tracy stood in the doorway watching Craig and Jimmy patiently work with the boys as they happily did the rescue five times in order to give each of them a chance to do the various jobs, each time switching hats and jackets so they would have the appropriate gear for the job they were doing.

"The boys work really well together, Mrs. Tracy," Rosemary observed.

"Yes they do, Rosemary, they most certainly do."

After completing the rescues, Jimmy and Craig led the boys back downstairs and asked who would like to climb to the top of the lighthouse. Rosemary declined, as did Mrs. Tracy as she held on to Alan.

"Please, Grandma? Can I please go up to the top?" Alan begged.

"There is a chain-link fence along the railing at the top, Mrs. Tracy," Craig told her. "I would be happy to take him up, and I will watch him as if he were my own. But he will have to leave Malcolm behind. No bears allowed up in the lighthouse."

Permission was granted much to Alan's delight and the boys followed their guides into the lighthouse.

"You have grandchildren?" Gordon asked him.

"Yes I do Gordon. Two boys and a girl."

"We don't have any girls in our family," stated Alan.

"Yes we do!" John corrected him.

"Who?"

"Grandma is a girl."

"No she's not, she's Grandma," Alan said as they started to climb the stairs. Everyone chuckled at that comment causing Alan to frown in confusion. Jimmy quickly distracted him by talking about how the lighthouse was constructed and telling them stories as they climbed.

At the top, Jimmy let each of them step up the ladder just a bit to see the automated light and then Craig took them out to see the view. He told them all to hold on to the railing as it was a bit windy. The boys looked out and Jimmy showed them various points of interest as they walked along the platform. Craig noticed that Gordon wasn't paying attention; rather he was just standing there staring out to sea.

Concerned, Craig asked, "Gordon, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I just want to go there," he said, pointing to the ocean.

"Have you been to the ocean yet?"

"No. And I really, really want to go. Please, Mr. Craig, will you take me there?"

"Well, I'll see what I can do, Gordon. Come on now. Let's find our way down, shall we?" Craig, still leading Alan by the hand, steered Gordon back inside and they headed down the stairs well ahead of the others.

Down at the bottom, they found Rosemary and their grandmother sitting on a bench in the shade.

"Grandma, I'm tired," Alan whined as he grabbed Malcolm and sat next to her on the bench, snuggling in when she pulled him close.

"That is hardly surprising. It looks like quite a climb up to the top."

"It was really cool, Grandma. You can even see New York City from the top!" Alan told her.

"Did you enjoy it as well, Gordon?"

"Yes, Grandma. Can we go to see the ocean next?"

"I don't know, honey. Your brother is tired." She was so busy with Alan that she didn't see Gordon's face fall at that.

Just then the older boys came out talking with Jimmy about the lighthouse's original lens that was housed in the next building.

"Grandma! They have the original first order Fresnel lens in the building next door!" John exclaimed. "Can we go see it, please?"

"Boys, Alan is tired. We really should be going."

Seeing the looks on the boys' faces, Craig spoke up: "Mrs. Tracy, I may have a solution. If it is alright with you, that is."

Not really wanting to disappoint the boys, she asked, "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, Gordon here really wants to walk down to see the ocean. I would be happy to take him if one of his older brothers would come with us. Ms. O'Sullivan and the other boys can go with Jimmy to the lens building while you rest here with Alan. I have a book of lighthouse stories that you can read to him while you wait."

"That sounds like a very nice plan, Craig. Thank you. John, would you please go with Gordon?" John opened his mouth to protest, but Scott stopped him with a gesture.

"I'll go, Grandma. Johnny really wants to see the lens," Scott volunteered, much to John's relief.

Craig went inside and got the book for Alan, while Jimmy led John, Virgil and Rosemary over to see the Fresnel lens. Once he returned with the book, Scott and Gordon went with him down to the boardwalk, Gordon scampering ahead.

"Slow down, sport! This old guy can't move quite that fast!"

"Sorry, Mr. Craig."

"No problem. We will get there very soon. The ocean is just on the other side of those dunes."

Gordon and Craig chatted as they walked towards the ocean, Gordon explaining that he had been learning as much about the ocean as he could and that he wanted to someday explore the ocean's depths. Craig then informed Gordon that he used to work as a fisherman before he retired and that he was an avid diver. Gordon plied him with a lot of questions at that revelation.

The boardwalk ended in a platform at the top of the dunes with stairs heading down to the beach. Gordon stood on the platform in awe watching the waves roll in with a sound like muted thunder as they crashed along the beach, the breeze bringing the salt spray to them as they stood there watching.

"It's alive!" Gordon breathed with reverence.

"What is?" asked Scott, slightly confused.

"The ocean, Scotty! Don't you feel it?" Scott shrugged his shoulders and looked at Craig, who was smiling at Gordon.

"Yes Gordon, it is very much alive. Not everyone can feel it though." Craig explained.

"I want to get closer," Gordon pleaded.

"Take off your shoes and socks. We will leave them up here by the boardwalk." Gordon quickly complied and then walked hand in hand with Craig to the water's edge while Scott hovered nearby.

Wide-eyed with delight, Gordon felt the water and sea foam as it reached his toes.

"It tickles," he said with a smile.

"Let's go closer."

"OK."

The two of them walked towards the water, watching the waves crash in front of them and occasionally getting sprayed a bit. One particularly large wave brought the water up almost to Gordon's knees. Craig held him tightly as the water was pulled back out to sea.

"It's pulling me!" Gordon exclaimed with delight. "It wants me."

"You think so?" Craig asked watching him carefully, thinking to himself that the connection between this young boy and the sea was almost tangible.

"Yes." Gordon stated. "Someday when I am older…," he promised.

"You know Gordon, I honestly think you will."


End file.
